


Swiftly Falling Rain

by ChaosLilly



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 14:00:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11533701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosLilly/pseuds/ChaosLilly
Summary: Marinette finds out Adrien's head over heels for someone else.  Chat steps up, and expensive pianos are cried on.Sorry y'all, this is not a fluff fic.





	Swiftly Falling Rain

_Okay. I’m going to do it. This time, I’m really going to do it._ Marinette steeled her last nerve, stepped out from around the corner to finally ask out the boy of her dreams and--

“I’m telling you, Nino, she’s the one.” Adrien smiled dazedly, his gaze a million miles away.  “She’s clever, beautiful, selfless, _incredibly_ talented and…pretty much perfect.” He closed his locker and leaned against it, looking to the ceiling like the heavens were open to his view.

Nino grinned at his friend while stashing his own books.“Wow bro, sounds like you’ve really got it bad. So, where’d you meet --oh, hey, Marinette, how’s it going?"

Marinette stood frozen as Adrien’s words hit her like arrows to the heart, unable to turn and run away. An awkward beat later she plastered a fake smile onto her face and prayed nobody would notice. “Oh, um. I’m...I’m alright. How are you guys?”

If it were possible, Nino’s grin got even wider. “Adrien was just gushing about this _completely fabulous_ chick he’s fallen head over heels for.” he teased.

“Nino!” Adrien snapped back to the present and shot a glare at his best bud.

Marinette’s smile hitched up a further unnatural notch. “Oh...that’s...that’s great!”

Just then, Adrien’s phone rang. He checked it, and huffed. “That’s Nathalie and the Gorilla. Better get going.”

“See you later, Marinette!” Nino fell into step beside his friend and they walked away.

 Marinette ran in the opposite direction as soon as they were out of sight, heading for the roof and fighting back tears the whole way. She’d heard similar praise before, splashed across the news and _The_ _Ladyblog_... all about someone _Marinette_ could never be.

 Thankfully, she was able to put Marinette away for a while. She burst onto the roof, called out to Tikki, and, a moment later, Ladybug swung out into the darkening autumn sky.

 

\--

 

Later that night, after their usual patrol, Chat Noir leaned back against the iron of the Eiffel Tower and watched his Lady. It was her favorite spot, this perch high above the City of Lights where she could watch it all twinkle and sparkle, dramatic and inspiring against the velvet-black sky.

 He’d tried to get her attention with his usual collection of puns and antics, but, tonight, her mind was elsewhere. Thankfully, the streets had been quiet. _Chat_ terbox that he was, he really did spend a lot of time watching her, learning the subtle signs of when she was elated or upset. Tonight, her head was full of something that clearly distressed her.

He padded over across the observation deck and gently laid a hand on his partner’s shoulder. “What’s up, Bugaboo?” he asked softly.

 Her jaw tightened and she took a deep, shuddering breath before looking away at the the star-strewn sky and meeting his eyes. With a shock, he realized his Lady hand been _crying_.

 “...Ladybug?”

 She smiled slightly, and wiped her eyes with the back of one spotted hand. “I’m sorry Chat. It’s been a long day.”

 “What’s going on?”

 “There’s...this boy.” She huffed out a laugh. “Oh, it sounds so silly to say it like that.”

 Adrien’s stomach tightened and for a split second he stopped breathing. _No…_ Forcing lungs to work again, he choked out “What... what happened?”

 She shrugged helplessly. “He’s gentle and kind and...kinda perfect. I don’t know why he’d ever look my way twice, but…” she hugged herself unconsciously and twitched her head slightly at the stars before hanging her head and looking directly at her feet.

 Chat glanced up just in time to see a star shoot across the night sky, and understood. He looked back at her, watching the slightest shudders she couldn’t quite hold in wrack her frame. He sighed, and steeled himself to do what he knew he had to.

 His Lady was in pain. What else was there?

 Gently, he took her by the shoulders, and gathered her in. She froze in surprise as he wrapped one arm around her, holding her and tenderly drawing her head to his own black-clad shoulder. A quiet second later, she let the tears flow freely. Chat stroked her hair, letting her let it out.

 After a moment, he whispered fiercely in her ear, “Ladybug, you are the most amazing woman I have ever met.  Any man not willing to give you everything’s he got, hold you tight, and know that they’re the _luckiest_ person in the world, no matter _how_ perfect he may seem, has got to be one of the most foolish men to have ever lived. But.” Gingerly, he pulled away, and looked her straight in her beautiful, bluebell eyes. “If you think he’s worth it, I can only pray he comes around.”

 She sniffled, and smiled weakly. “Thanks, Chat.”

 Adrien smiled sadly back at her. “Come on. You should get home and rest.”

 She nodded, took a breath, and with a running leap swung off into the night.

 Chat, watching, let out the breath he didn’t know he’d still been holding, and mournfully shook his head. _Perfect..._

 

\--

 

Marinette looked at her collage of pictures of the boy that had consumed her mind tonight and sighed. Chat may be right, but she didn’t have the heart to take them all down tonight. She shrugged into her pajamas, turned out the light, and crawled into bed.  
  
Her tiny kwami sat on the pillow beside her, trying to think of what to say. “Marinette?” she worried.

“Not tonight, Tikki.” Marinette rolled over and tried desperately to sleep.

 

\--

 

Across town, Adrien had given up on sleep for the time being. As quietly as he could he padded down the hall to the music room. An advantage to a large house with so few people living in it is that there were fewer people to wake up by accident.

He sat at the Steinway piano, pushed back the fallboard, and began to play.  

It was the same song as always, the one that he’d been unable to get out of his head. The one that he’d written just for her.

On patrol again tomorrow, he’d smile and support her as he always did. It’s what _she_ needed. Tonight, though, halfway through the second refrain, tears fell to join his fingers as he played on.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by a friend; inspired by "Teardrops on My Guitar" by Taylor Swift.  
> If you have any requests for future one-shots, drop me a line!


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